


Winter Love

by dollylux



Series: Fic Advent Calendar 2015: Siblings, Husbands, Lovely Ladies, and Other Miscreants [7]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animal Shelters, Falling In Love, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 12:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5375084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dollylux/pseuds/dollylux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen draws some guy named Jared Padalecki for Secret Santa at the shelter where he volunteers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter Love

**Author's Note:**

> day seven | prompt: secret santa

Jensen loves dogs.

He loves them a whole whole lot, but he lives in an apartment complex that doesn’t so much. He used to get his fix by walking his Grammy’s toy poodle Dolly, but Dolly had gone to the Big Doghouse in the Sky this past summer. A friend had suggested volunteering at the local animal shelter, and bam! All the dogs he could ever want to play with, three days a week.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, to be exact.

When he comes in on the first Tuesday of December and sees a piece of paper with his name on it tacked to the corkboard behind the counter, he frowns as he pulls it down.

“We did the drawing for Secret Santa yesterday,” Felicia explains to him as she scratches out a note on her clipboard. “I drew a name for you. That’s who you’ll be buying for. Fifteen dollar limit, nothing crazy, nothing alive, and nothing the dogs can destroy before the holiday party next week.”

He opens the paper and squints down at the name scrawled on it.

“Jared Pad… Pada--”

“Padalecki.” Felicia cradles her clipboard to her chest and turns to smile at him. “You’ve met him, right? Tall, long hair, smells like dog?”

“You just described Adrianne.”

Felicia laughs, giving him an amused roll of her eyes before she continues past him, toward the kennels. 

“Trust me, he looks nothing like Adrianne!”

Jensen looks back down at the name again, at a little bit of a loss on what to do now.

“Hm,” he says to himself.

“You’ve never met our Jared?” Mary asks him after she hangs up the phone and turns to give him a sweet smile. “He’s been volunteerin’ here for almost three years now. Works every Monday and Thursday.”

“Well, there you go,” Jensen shrugs, stuffing the little piece of paper into his pocket. “Those are the days I work from home.”

“Oh, yes! You’re an illustrator, aren’t you? Draw for kids books?” Mary looks excited at the thought, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Mary is a grandmother who loves her grandkids. He’s careful not to open that Pandora’s box.

“Mostly, but I do other things, too,” he says evasively. “So, what can you tell me about Jared?”

“Oh, he’s such a sweetheart,” she replies in a rush, turning to Jensen with what he swears are heart eyes. “Got such a big heart. He lost his dog to cancer a few years back, and he came in to adopt another dog. He knew he could never replace his pup, but.”

“I understand,” Jensen offers quietly, a little smile tugging on his lips.

“Anyway, that’s how he started volunteering here. Just wanted to help after he got Sadie home. So he’s been helping out in any way he can. He’s going to vet school! Has all these plans for a low-income clinic after he gets through and gets a practice set up. Such a good boy.”

Jensen’s not sure how any of this information is going to help him get a gift for Jared Padalecki, but it’s a heart-warming little story; reminds him that there are just good people out there in the world.

“What kind of dog is Sadie?” he finally asks.

“A mutt, of course. Got a lot of German Shepherd in her, from what I remember. She’s a big dog but she’s a good girl. Real gentle.” The phone rings again, and Mary turns to answer it, leaving Jensen with his thoughts.

“Hmm,” he says again.

 

He’s at the grocery store later, grabbing some frozen pizzas and a case of Holiday Cheer Shiner Bock when he passes the pet aisle. He pauses, arms full of subpar pizza, and turns down the aisle.

He stares at the dog toys for at least ten minutes, his nipples hard and freezing under the cold pizza he’s hugging, but he finally decides on a toy: a short bit of rope with a loop on it so that Jared can hold on and tug it while Sadie pulls the other side. And he can play fetch with it even, if he wants. Best of both worlds.

He grabs the toy with his teeth, his only option of retrieval, and heads to the front.

 

The aforementioned Adrianne is a towering, statuesque blonde who uses the most ridiculous baby voice when she’s talking to the animals (but she’s a little taller than Jensen, so he doesn’t dare tease her about it in fear of getting his ass kicked). She’s crouched inside of one of the larger kennels when Jensen comes in on Wednesday, and she’s not even grumbling about the fact that she’s scrubbing dog drool off a freshly washed doggie mat.

“Hey, Annie,” he calls to her as he hefts a giant bag of dog food out of the store room up to the kennels, smiling at the way the dogs start to whine and prance around excitedly at just the hint of being fed. Her reply is muffled but heard, and they move around each other getting things straightened up and getting the dogs fed and watered.

Adrianne stands up finally, brushing her hair back off her flushed face and tossing the cloth she’d been cleaning with into the laundry bin next to Jensen.

“How’s it been going?” she asks him a little breathlessly, giving him a smile before turning her attention to the terrier mix jumping up and down in the kennel beside her and licking at her fingers.

“Pretty good,” he shrugs, not really one to share any of his personal business with people he only talks to once a week, but he realizes that there is one thing he can talk to her about. “Hey, um. Can I ask you something?”

She raises an eyebrow at him, a smirk tugging at her mouth.

“I thought you were gay.”

His eyes widen.

“Wh-How..? How did you know--”

“Oh, honey,” she says with a sigh and a little shake of her head. She reaches out and pets him on the arm like he’s a slightly unintelligent little dog. “Ask away.”

“I just,” he mumbles, reaching up to rub the back of his neck, feeling the flushed heat of it against his palm. “I got that guy Jared as my person for the Secret Santa, and I’ve never really met him. So I’m looking for some pointers on what to get him.”

Her eyebrow stays up, her smirk deepening.

“ _You’ve_ never met _Jared_?”

Jensen blinks at her, cocking his head to the side. Huh. Maybe he is a slightly unintelligent little dog.

“...No?”

She grins at him.

“Let’s see, how to describe Jared,” she sighs, hopping up onto the counter and crossing her legs. “He’s tall, he’s--”

“I know that he’s tall, he’s got long hair, he smells like dogs, he’s studying to be a vet, he’s a puppy savior, and he has a German Shepherd mix named Sadie,” he counts off on his fingers. “What else you got?”

“Hmm. He’s got a little sister Megan that he adores. She’s been in here a couple of times. Adopted a cat from us this past spring. He’s my wine drinking buddy! We’ve gone to a couple of those tasting things which was totally fun.” She leans forward, her blue eyes wide as her voice drops to a whisper. “Here’s a secret: even though he claims to be a wine snob, he totally loves cheap wine, too. Like, those eight dollar bottles of red wine? He loves ‘em.”

Jensen smiles.

“A man after my own heart.”

“Right? He’s kind of adorable.” She grins, her nose crinkling. ”Oh! And--”

“Annie! Jensen! Can I get some help?” There’s a rustle and a clatter and a lot of happy barking from the front after Mary calls for them, and they both spring into action, ready to untangle some leashes.

 

He doesn’t know how he ends up with bottle of inexpensive, locally made wine in his basket at his stop at the corner store that night, but he puts it on the kitchen table beside the dog toy. 

His Jared Padalecki pile is growing.

 

“He’s a cool guy,” Jeff tells him while he scritches Sir Fluffsley underneath his chin, the sound of the cat’s purr nearly drowning out Jeff’s voice. Jensen waits for Jeff to expand on the thought, and he leans forward a little when he doesn’t, the brush paused on Fluffsley’s back.

“And?”

“And… we watch NBA playoffs sometimes. He roots for the Spurs, I root for everybody else. It’s good.” Jeff makes kissy faces at Sir Fluffsley before he puts him back into his cage, giving him a final rubdown and closing it up.

“...Anything that might help me pick out a gift for him?” Jensen wipes the fur off his shirt and follows Jeff to the next cage. 

“I dunno, he’s kinda hard to shop for. He does that thing every year where he sponsors a family and buys their Christmas? So whenever I’ve tried to get him something, he just asks me to get a toy for a kid or socks for the Dad in the family, that kind of thing.” Jeff smiles as he lifts the new little grey kitten from the kennel and cradles her to his chest. Jensen brushes much more gently this time.

“Wow,” Jensen says softly. “That’s… kind of amazing.”

“He’s one of those guys that… it’s hard to believe he’s real, you know? Like there’s gotta be something wrong with him. But I’ve never seen anything. He’s always just… just a real good guy.” Jeff’s salt-and-pepper whiskered face softens, a smile ghosting his lips.

Jensen smiles, letting the brush drag over the kitten’s chin so she can rub against it. 

“Sounds like you’ve got a crush.”

Jeff bristles then, cradling the kitten against his chest and stepping back from Jensen with a frown and slightly pink cheeks.

“I don’t have a crush! I just…” He clears his throat. “Oh, hey, thought of something. He really likes that writer, uh. David Foster Wallace. You know him?”

Jensen nods eagerly.

“Yeah! He’s one of my favorites.”

“Oh, man. He’s Jared’s favorite. He keeps that book _Infinite Jest_ in his car. ‘Just in case,’ he says. He’s read it a dozen times.” Jeff gives the kitten a kiss on the nose and puts her back in the kennel, sighing when she mews pitifully as they retreat.

“That might actually be helpful, Jeff. Thank you. And hey.” Jensen grins and takes a step back. “If you ever just want to fangirl over Jared, I’m here, man. I’ll listen.”

Jeff narrows his eyes, grinning as he advances.

“You little shit.”

Jensen takes off away from him, not listening as Mary yells at them to stop running in the shelter because it drives the dogs crazy.

 

He goes to Wal-Mart that night after work, getting a few pairs of adult and kids socks and a few warm sweatshirts of different sizes, along with some puzzles and a Monopoly game, determined to give them to Jared for his sponsored family. 

He stops at the bookstore after, perusing the aisles and finding nothing that strikes his fancy. He’s on his way out the door when he passes a spinning rack of magnets with pictures of book covers on them, and one magnet in particular sticks out to him.

It’s the cover for _Infinite Jest_ by one David Foster Wallace.

“No way,” he says to himself, staring in amazement.

He pries it off of the stand and holds it in his hand for a long moment, wondering at all the circumstances that brought that knowledge to him today and lead to him standing right here, right now and to notice that magnet among all the others.

He pays for the magnet. He has goosebumps all the way home.

His Jared Padalecki pile has officially taken over the table.

 

It’s the Wednesday before the shelter’s Saturday holiday party when Jensen works with Stephen. It’s freezing outside, so they’re bundled up tight as they walk some of the dogs around the property. 

They don’t talk for awhile, just walk beside each other and watch the dogs jog ahead of them, their tails wagging, tags jingling. Jensen has always gotten the distinct impression that Stephen doesn’t like him very much, and so he’s hesitant to try having this conversation with him.

But his ever-increasing curiosity about Jared overcomes any shyness after about ten minutes.

“So, um,” he starts, his breath leaving his mouth in a white plume, “do you know Jared?”

Stephen glances at him, not stopping because the dogs won’t let him, but his steps slow the tiniest bit.

“Uh… yeah. Yeah, I… why do you ask?”

Jensen looks over at him, curious about his reaction and too invested now not to pursue it.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I got his name for Secret Santa, and I’ve never met him. Just trying to get to know him, figure out what he’d want.”

He doesn’t mention that he’s totally blown his budget for a gift, that he’s put more thought into this than what he got his own mother, or that this isn’t even about Secret Santa anymore; he just kinda really wants to know Jared.

“What he’d want,” Stephen echoes, glancing at Jensen again and giving him a very obvious once-over. “Hm. Yeah, that’s about right.”

Jensen stops and immediately regrets it. He’s jerked forward by the pull of the dogs, forced to jog for a few seconds to keep up with Stephen’s pack.

 _”What?”_ he finally asks.

“Nothing,” Stephen replies quickly. “You’ve seriously never met him?”

“No? Why?” He feels his hackles rising, about to push through his normal fear of confrontation to put Stephen on the spot. He grips the leashes a little tighter. “Have you?”

“Yeah. We actually dated for a little while,” Stephen admits, keeping his eyes straight ahead now, his jaw tense. Jensen nearly stumbles because he’s watching Stephen instead of where he’s going. 

“What happened?” he manages to ask.

“Just… didn’t work out. We weren’t compatible, I guess.” Stephen shrugs in a way Jensen guesses is supposed to be casual but misses the mark by a mile. “Anyway. He’s got a lot of hair. He likes to wear beanies. Even in summer.”

Jensen chews on his bottom lip, forcing himself to look forward again instead of gaping at Stephen. He gives a nod, trying to smile even though Stephen looks almost like he’s sulking now. He feels weirdly possessive of Jared and maybe just a little bit smug that he’s getting to shop for him while Stephen doesn’t. (Not anymore anyway.)

“Beanies,” Jensen repeats. “I think I can work with that.”

 

He grabs a black beanie from American Apparel before going home that night, deciding that it’s going to be the last of the gifts he gets for Jared. It feels personal, getting him something he’s going to wear. And he doesn’t even know what the guy looks like.

He’s not even home for an hour when he’s grabbing his laptop and opening Facebook up in a tab, only hesitating for a few seconds before typing Jared’s first and last name in the search bar.

Hey, look at that. They have six mutual friends.

His profile picture is of a mostly tan dog with a black nose and ears that stick straight up. 

“Hi Sadie,” he says to his computer screen, grinning at the dog taking up most of a dark blue couch. He glances at Jared’s ‘about’ section (male; interested in men; agnostic; liberal; Pre-Vet at UT Austin) before clicking on his pictures. All of the public ones, and there aren’t many, are of Sadie or another dog, a bigger one that Jensen assumes is the dog that passed away before Sadie came along.

Not a single picture of the man himself.

He scrolls idly through his page, smiling at the shared articles about gay rights issues in Texas, pictures of animals needing to be adopted at the shelter, at the slew of happy birthday notes that came through in July.

He nearly scrolls past a picture Jared was tagged in by somebody named Sandy, a picture of a guy with Sadie.

Jensen’s heart leaps. A gorgeous, _gorgeous_ guy with Sadie.

“Please be Jared, please be Jared, please be Jared,” he whispers, clicking on the picture and waiting for it to load. He glances at the caption: _Jared and his date, 4th of July picnic._

“Holy shit.”

Dimples, a killer smile, thick, dark hair almost touching his shoulders, and a t-shirt about two sizes too tight that show off muscular, tanned arms. He’s sitting on a lawn chair and hugging Sadie who seems to be smiling at the camera, too, her tongue lolling out, head tipped to one side.

Jared. Fucking. Padalecki.

Jensen sits back, his mouth open as he stares at the computer screen. The sound that leaves him could only ever be described as a whimper.

If it wasn’t official before, it is now: Jensen has a painfully massive crush on Jared.

He grabs the sketchpad and pencil beside his laptop, settling in to start constructing a drawing. He’d promised himself he was done shopping for Jared, but there’s still one last gift he wants to give him.

 

The party starts at seven, but Jensen is about half an hour late. He’d changed clothes for so long that he ran out of options and ended up wearing the tight black sweater he’d started out in. His jeans are dark and fitted, his hair carefully styled, and while he usually doesn’t care much about what he looks like, it kind of matters tonight.

Like, a lot.

He walks in with two big boxes stacked on top of each other, and he can barely see over the height of them when he tries to reach the door handle at the community center where they’re holding the party.

“Need help?”

An unfamiliar voice, but Jensen nods, grateful as he slips into the warm building.

“Thanks, man.”

“Here, lemme help.” The top box is plucked from Jensen’s arms, leaving him holding the one for Jared’s sponsored family and--

“Ohshit.” 

He’s suddenly staring right at Jared Padalecki who is wearing a black button-down, black jeans, and a red Santa hat. Jared Padalecki who is holding his own gift from Jensen, smiling at him with those fucking dimples out and eyes that seem like they’re made of multicolored Christmas lights and--

Jensen, all grace and charm, drops the box in his arms.

“Shit!” they exclaim at the same time. Jensen snatches the box from the ground and hugs it to his chest, his massive eyes finding Jared again.

“I hope nothing broke!” Jared looks truly concerned, and he steps right up into Jensen’s space to inspect the box he’s holding.

“Oh, no this one’s…” Jensen manages, his throat suddenly dry. “This one’s just clothes and games. That one has the bottle of wine.”

Jared’s mouth tugs up on one side, one of the dimples flashing deeper than the other right now.

Jensen damn nearly drops the box again.

“A bottle of wine, huh?” Jared very gently shakes the box in his arms and grins when it rattles. “Well, you’re about to make somebody really happy.”

“It’s, um. It’s. I’m.” Jensen flushes, lowering his eyes to stare at the green bow on the present he’s holding. He takes a deep breath. “My name’s Jensen. And… I’m your Secret Santa.”

Jared’s smile fades as he takes it all in, his whole face slipping into something thoughtful and then touched and then concerned when he realizes that both of these boxes belong to Jensen and therefore to him.

“For me? I’m…” Jared shakes his head, ducking down to catch Jensen’s gaze again. “I can’t take all of this. Why’d you get me so much stuff? I don’t deserve all this.”

“I, um.” Words, Ackles. Find your fucking _words_. “So, I spent the last week or so asking around about you, ‘cause I didn’t know you and didn’t know what to get you. And I ended up getting you a few little things because I kept finding out more stuff about you until eventually… um.”

Start with the easy one.

“This box.” He lifts it a little. “Jeff told me you sponsor a family for Christmas every year, so this is for them. Just some socks and sweatshirts and games.”

Jared seems to actually melt then, all of him curling down and in to get closer to Jensen. He puts the box he’s holding down on the table beside them and takes the family’s box from Jensen. 

“Wow, I’m.” His eyes glisten in the warm glow of the white Christmas lights decorating the place, and Jensen realizes that he’s actually tearing up. “Jensen, this is amazing. Seriously. Thank you.”

Jensen’s hands slip into his pockets now that they’re empty, the smile that wants to take over his face absolutely dopey and way too pleased at making Jared this happy.

“And, um. The other box… that one’s for you.” He nods over at the box on the table, his heart beating so loud in his ears that he can’t hear the meowing cats version of “Jingle Bells” being played over the speakers. 

Jared sets the gift he’s holding down like it’s made of glass. He reaches for the other one, grinning at the wrapping paper: dogs wearing Santa hats.

“Can I open it?” He turns hopeful eyes on Jensen that make Jensen almost painfully aware of what Jared probably looked like as a kid on Christmas morning. Jared’s parents must’ve melted every single time.

“Of course,” he says softly.

He’s gentle with the wrapping paper, making sure only to tug at the tape until it all comes off in one sheet, and he sticks the big bow on his chest, turning to give Jensen a flash of a grin before he pulls the box open.

“They’re just little things,” he explains quickly when Jared pulls out the dog toy, the magnet, and the beanie. “Just things I saw that reminded me of you. And the wine, of course. And--”

“It’s amazing.” Jared’s voice is so quiet that Jensen has to step in close, so close he can feel the warmth from Jared’s long body. “It’s like you actually know me, but I’ve never met you. And I _know_ I’ve never met you because I’d remember.”

Jensen couldn’t hide the pink on his cheeks even if he stuck his head in the box.

“There’s one more thing in there,” is all he can say back because it’s now or never. He just has to go for it.

Taking up the entire bottom of the box is another wrapped item, a rectangular one that is a little heavy because Jensen had it framed. He watches Jared unwrap it, letting the words gather on his tongue until they just come tumbling out in a rush.

“I… I found you on Facebook, and I saw this picture. It was the only one of you, and it was taken at your friend Sandy’s 4th of July party? Anyway. I saw you and… and I’d spent the whole week before getting to know you and kind of falling for you through your friends. And then… Jesus Christ, Jared. Then I saw you. Saw that picture. And it was just the final nail in the coffin. There’s no way somebody could be that sweet, that amazing, that… that gorgeous. I have to try. I have to… to…”

Jared had been unwrapping the final gift, his eyes mostly on Jensen until he got all the paper off. He’s staring down at it now, at the drawing Jensen had done in pencil of Jared, not just with Sadie but with the other dog, too, the one Jensen had dug around and realized was named Harley. He’d sketched them both in faithfully and with as much care as he could take, and he’d gotten the picture matted and framed yesterday after work. He’d been proud of how it looked, how accurate and lovely they all looked together, but standing here in front of Jared, watching the tears tumble down his cheeks and the way his chin trembles, he’s never been prouder of any damn thing he’s done in his entire life.

“I…” he starts, his chest so full he feels like he’s going to burst, his hands tangled together in front of him now, tugging at each other nervously. “I hope it’s okay. I hope that was alright for me to--”

Jared reaches for him then, gathering Jensen up in his arms and pulling him in against his solid chest, smashing the green bow Jared had put there. Jensen goes gratefully, his arms wrapping around Jared’s narrow waist, his face tucking right up against his neck. Jared’s clutching the picture in his hand still, pressed to Jensen’s back, but he’s holding Jensen so tight it almost hurts to breathe.

He loves it.

Jared is crying quietly, muffling most of it against the top of Jensen’s head where his face is buried. Jensen relaxes against him, settles into the warm strength of his arms and rubs his back in gentle, slow circles. He closes his eyes and breathes, the unbelievable, undeniable _rightness_ of this absolutely overwhelming him.

“Thank you,” Jared whispers, his mouth so near to Jensen’s ear. Jensen just nods, his throat tight around any words that could want to get out. He gives Jared a squeeze and is hugged tighter right back. 

“I hope it looks alright. I’d love to draw you and Sadie in real life sometime, if you want. I almost feel like I know her now.” His own voice sounds thick, like he hasn’t spoken in a long time, and Jared lets go of him enough to pull back and look down at the picture, shaking his head with wide, amazed eyes.

“It’s stunning. Just… something I’ve always wanted even though I know it’s impossible. To have them both here, you know? You… you gave me that.” He looks up at Jensen, holding him in his gaze. Jensen doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“Go out with me,” Jensen says in a jumble of words, too desperate to try to be clever. “Please. Just… just once. I just want to know you. If you’ll let me.”

Jared’s smile is mysterious, his gaze lidded now as he runs the one hand still on Jensen up and down his flank, ending up on his hip that he squeezes, such an intimate, lovely place to be touched that Jensen shivers.

“What do you say you come over and meet Sadie right now? You can help me put up my tree and decorate it. I haven’t gotten a chance to. And I’m going to bake some dog biscuits--”

“Wait,” Jensen interrupts, grinning so hard it hurts to talk. “You make doggie Christmas cookies?”

“Is that a yes or a no?” Jared laughs, giving Jensen a tug forward, closer to him.

“It’s a yes,” Jensen replies, staring right up into Jared’s eyes, amazed at how comforting it already is. “Yes, yes, yes. To all of it.”

“C’mon.” Jared hands him the unopened box back and puts the framed drawing very carefully back in the other, and turning to take Jensen’s free hand in his own, he leads them back to the door. Jensen follows in a daze, his fingers laced tightly with Jared’s, and he doesn’t even care that they’re leaving the party early, that people are going to wonder where they went and why they weren’t there during the gift exchange.

Jensen got everything he never knew he needed already, and he didn’t even have to unwrap anything to get it.


End file.
